Family Fun Time: Part i

Dominic will not stay away from JM's travel chess board. So tonight, instead of puzzles, he and I set up the board and I allowed him the space and time to explore how the pieces look and where they go and a little bit about what they do.

Nights like tonight make me wish time could slow down just on occasion so I could cherish these moments even more.

Is it just me or do other people have a tendency to rush through an evening sometimes just to get to chores that you know are piling up?

Tonight is not one of those nights. Tonight I introduced my eager son to the beauty of a chess board. He likes it. A lot. But he does call it checkers, so we've got a bit of work to do yet.

xo. Sweet Dominic, don't grow up too fast, okay?

Collections: Part I

My mom was a photographer. This Canon was her's when she was younger. I'm happy I get to display it in my own home now as part of a large collective of vintage cameras.

I still haven't unpacked the whole collection, but I have sprinkled some of my favorites, like the three pictured here, throughout the decor of the whole house.

You don't own a home this old without having antique and vintage collections to display in it. More projects to come, I'm sure.

The Hawk's Memorial Service

I held a memorial service for a hawk last night.

One of the pair I have been seeing quite regularly since moving to McIntosh was found dead in our backyard. Its mate, to me, seemed noticeably upset. It doesn't seem natural that a hawk would stay in such close proximity to humans and human activity. Maybe she had an intuition, maybe she knew we would be okay with her being close by, maybe she just wasn't ready to leave her mate. Regardless, she just lingered around while JM mowed, and while Dominic worked on his tricycle, and while I moved about the yard picking up moss and sticks. She stayed mostly overhead, observing from a reasonable distance - sometimes swooping down through the yard just a foot or so off the ground before pulling up and landing on another branch. And then for a period, she was standing in the grass 10, maybe 15 feet away from the moving mower. I reveled at how quickly Dominic was able to spot her after just a few sweeps through the yard. "There she is!" he'd proudly exclaim while pointing into the trees. And at the same time, I felt so incredibly sad because why would a hawk just happen to be hanging around the same time we stumble upon a nearly identical one, dead in the grass except because she was mourning, except because he was her mate?

It was right before dusk when I had the moment of silence. I didn't see her then, but I know she wasn't far. Maybe it seems silly to hear I am so affected by a dead bird. It's not just the dead bird though. It is his mate and her broken heart. I hope she stays around; I hope I continue to see her in all the familiar places.

Found: Baby Squirrel.

So ... JM rescued a baby squirrel yesterday. She'd fallen from a majestic oak in our yard during a storm, narrowly missing the hood of JM's car. She was soaked. He scooped her up, wrapped her in Dominic's scarf, and tried to clean her up. Meanwhile, I searched for the name and number of the squirrel guy from last September. JM put her on a heating pad in a basket, wrapped in the scarf and then I took her to work with me for the afternoon. When I did reach the squirrel guy (David), he was thankful we found her and happy to take over her care.

Susan, Dominic, and I took her to him last night after work. She's doing really well, is big for her age and seems quite healthy. He estimates she's about six weeks old - eyes are still closed, but he thinks they'll be open by the beginning of next week.


David has a really fantastic set-up for squirrel rehab in Ocala. He has a system for monitoring the babies' growth and progress and even a substantial network of people whom he works with and who refer to him. This man, in my humble opinion, is a tremendous resource in this niche of animal rescue and rehab. I have entrusted him with three baby squirrels at this point and I will continue to do this so long as he is accepting of them.

When we dropped this little one off, David let me know he typically names the squirrels when they come in as a means of tracking their data and progress. He asked if it was alright that he named her Alison. And of course I said yes. So somewhere out there, eventually in the wild, there will be a squirrel who responds to the name Alison. 

Introducing the McIntosh Hotel!

As you know, we bought the McIntosh Hotel. What you may not know is that we bought it on the anniversary of our first date. We didn't plan it that way, but how poetic that on the anniversary of the day we began our life together, we take this step for our family.

We bought a piece of history and we're so honored to give it purpose and life again. Friends and family, please say hello to the historic McIntosh Hotel, now the home of the Soracchi family.

Closing Time.

So today is the day. We've closed on the McIntosh Hotel.

Jon-Michael and I met at the title office, signed the papers, and took the keys.

She. is. ours.

In case you didn't know - and you probably didn't, since this is the first entry in this new journal - in October, we set out to acquire the beauty sitting alone across from the Post Office in McIntosh.

What started out as a joke has evolved into a family dream.

Rewind to mid-September, maybe early October. JM sent me a listing to an eleven bedroom, three bath, single family residence for sale in a prime location for our family and work lives. Eleven bedrooms? Who on earth would ever need that?!

You know me, I had to know.

I called an agent I was connected with randomly on Zillow. She looked up the listing and she too was immediately intrigued. We went to look. I fell in love. We'd all be fooling each other if we said JM was as excited as I was right out of the gate. He is always more of the realist between us. We walked up the stairs and down the long hallway separated the bedrooms. We walked out onto the veranda and took in the mossy view. We envisioned the noise from Dominic playing. I envisioned myself nestled in a hammock on the upstairs porch. I got supremely excited about the possibility of having my own work space in the house. JM dreamed of a room where he would retreat to for a quiet read.

We learned quickly it was not eleven rooms anymore. Several rooms had been combined to make larger, more spacious bedrooms. Now there are only seven. The plumbing had been updated and the bathrooms remodeled in really adorable fashion, the air conditioners reasonably new, and the kitchen cabinets were beautiful.

The walls though ... the walls were leaning. This beyond anything else hung us up greatly. Why is it leaning? How badly is it leaning? Is the lean the reason it's been for sale all this time? I'll tell you all about the lean later. For now, we celebrate!